ASYLON came into existence before time was time, created as a protective bubble in the midst of an eternal, infinite plane of raw power known as the AETHER. ARU and TESURA, the forces of creation and sustenance and destruction and change create this bubble of safety and manifested consciousness in the forms of ASHA, the Lord of Order, and SHEOR, the King of Upheaval. Asha came first and forced time and order onto Asylon, then Sheor was created to balance the presence of forces within Asylon. They propagated and warred for time uncounted, eventually settling into an unsteady peace. Sheor eventually tricked Asha and his offspring, the AEREN to create the physical world, IRTE, from the body of Utsirte, Asha's wife and the most compassionate Aeren, sapping their power in the process. Some of the Aeren realized this trickery and fled before their bodies were spent, leaving holes in the fabric of ORA, the wall protecting Asylon, which are the stars and the sun, Moiar's Eye. Sheor was hunted down and destroyed by the Aeren, but his heart broke loose from his body and embedded itself deep within the body of Utsirte, marring her perfection and introducing chaos into the material world.

In the First Era, life arrived on the surface of Irte in the form of plants, animals, and--eventually--sentient beings. They crawled from the muck of the world to establish themselves as hunters and gatherers, forming rudimentary tribal societies and basic nature worship. On the continent of Aina, one tribe's wise man, GOHT, was a fanatical devotee of Moiar's Eye, and unwittingly sacrificed his life to release the power of Aether--magic--on the world.

GOHT's tribe quickly rose to prominence in the world, proclaiming themselves "Merrans," the Chosen, and ushering in the Second Era. They grew into a powerful empire that stretched across the land, building a vast network of palaces and temples on the backs of an innumerable force of slaves. Eventually they became so powerful in the ways of magic as to threaten the spirit of Utsirte, and she rose up in anger against the Merrans in THE CATACLYSM. She obliterated their race, ruining the splendour of their Empire and sending all creatures into the depths of barbarism. The few Merrans that survived repented and became the Mer, the people, protector's of the careful balance of life.

In the Third Era, the races that survived the cruelty of the Great Merran Empire and the destruction of the Cataclysm began to reassert themselves across the surface of Aina, eventually growing into a complex network of kingdoms and nomadic tribes. The Mer--after a series of disputes over the nature of magic and its use--fractured into three peoples: the Bosmer, the Altmer, and the Dunmer.

The Fourth Era arrived with the birth of Valde Doxim, the only man to ascend to godhood, and his forging of the Atralonian Empire. Since then 442 years have passed, and the various nations of Men, Mer, and Beasts have flourished and crumbled, fought and made peace, all under the gaze of Moiar's Eye and the influence of the Nine Aeren and the Traeren Princes.